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First Details of Unreal Engine 4 Revealed

Back in March, Epic Games was showing off Unreal Engine 4 behind closed doors and an NDA. Today the studio is opening up a little bit more about the new engine and that we can expect a lot more information at E3 next month. The team over at Wired conducted an interview with Epic Games founder Tim Sweeney about Unreal Engine 4 and just what we can expect from it, and I have to say, it is well worth the read. For starters, Epic has assembled a two and a half minute demo reel that shows off everything UE4 can do for developers. The demo reel has a demon knight in his volcano fortress with a ton of effects (lens flare, bokeh distortion, dynamic lighting, lava flow, environmental destruction, lava, and more) going around, and according to Wired, "it's breathtakingly photo-realistic." While the clip is not yet available, we do have a plethora of screenshots for you to peruse and gawk over. I imagine the clip will be shown during E3, so it looks like we have a few weeks left before seeing it.

As for Unreal Engine 4, Epic Games says it features tools that will allow developers to cut production times in half. This will mean more games can be produced each year if Epic's claims are accurate. The screenshots from the demo reel look amazing, but then that begs the question of just what kind of hardware will be necessary to get all games looking this good. I suppose we will find out in a few weeks.